You can also use cioè to correct yourself mid-sentence – a bit like saying "or rather" or "I mean..." after a slip of the tongue. When it's used this way you might hear people adding sì or no afterwards for extra emphasis.

Non posso venire, cioè sì, mi basta saperlo per tempo.
I can't come, or rather, I can, I just have to know in good time.

But even when you're not quite sure what you mean, cioè's the word for you. Nowadays you'll hear it used as a filler, a pausing word you can grab while you look for a better phrase. In fact for some Italian speakers, cioè has become a bit of a verbal tic – just like the word "like" in English.

Sì, cioè...
Yes, well, you know...

Cioè, è bello, vero?
Like, it's nice, isn't it?

And just like "like", cioè is beloved by teenage girls – so much so that there's a teen magazine named after it. Like, cool!

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